Sculpture Garden: “Film Noir Ensemble” Reception with Perci Chester

The Anderson Center at Tower View invites the public to join artist Perci Chester for a free outdoor artist talk and reception honoring the installation of her dynamic two-piece sculpture, Film Noir Ensemble, from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, June 10 in the Anderson Center Sculpture Garden, 163 Tower View Drive in Red Wing.

The new 22-foot-high sculpture, a pair of abstracted figures in motion, features textured steel and rivets coated in intense candy-colored paints. Since its installation in October 2020, the sculpture has been a literal bright spot on the landscape, especially during the winter months. A new year and the return of warm weather brings an opportunity to gather near the monumental sculptures to hear from the artist and formally welcome her work to the sculpture park.

Working with ordinary industrial materials, Chester cuts, rearranges or assembles extruded sheets of metal into visual poems for the 21st century. Made entirely from repurposed steel from an old water tower, Film Noir Ensemble was many years in the making. Chester began the piece in 2006, finishing it in 2020. “Through my most recent practice I fabricate playful sculptures on an architectural scale,” she says. “These works illuminate states of consciousness—such as expansion, balance and joy—all essential to re-imagining the future on Earth.”

Light refreshments will be served at the Artist Reception.

Handicapped accessible and free to the public, the Main Gallery at the Anderson Center is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Sculpture Garden is open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Anderson Center is conveniently located just off Highway 61 at 163 Tower View Drive on the northwestern edge of Red Wing. The Center has two entrances from 61 – the Cannon Bottom Road entrance leads to the West parking lot and the beautiful extensive Sculpture Garden. The Mounds View Drive Entrance leads to Anderson Center’s offices and main entrance.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.